Molly Martens' tears and treachery: In all my years covering criminal trials, I have never felt anything like the emotion in that courtroom
Journalist Ralph Riegel says the courage of Jason Corbett’s children at the sentencing of Molly and Tom Martens was one of the bravest things he’s seen
It took just 90 seconds for the sound of the first sob to echo around the hushed confines of Courtroom 6 in Lexington, North Carolina.
Jack Corbett (19) hadn’t even reached the part of his victim impact statement where he described Molly Martens (40) as “a monster” before his former nanny started to cry loudly.
Sitting two rows behind members of the Martens family in the public gallery in the Davidson County Superior Court chamber, I checked for the source of the sound and wasn’t surprised to see the Tennessee woman weeping.
She had also sobbed and issued a dramatic apology to her own family in a different courtroom in the same complex in August 2017, when she was jailed for 20 to 25 years for the second-degree murder of Jason Corbett (39).
On that occasion, she sobbed through a victim impact statement also written by her stepson Jack, but which was delivered by assistant district attorney Alan Martin, who choked back the tears as he read it out.
That statement condemned the actions of the former nanny who, along with her father, former FBI agent Tom Martens (73), had brutally beaten Limerick man Jason Corbett to death with a metal baseball bat and a concrete paving slab.
This time, Molly Martens would face not only Jack Corbett in person, she would also have to sit and listen to his sister Sarah (17) describe the trauma inflicted on two youngsters who had been orphaned by her actions.
Since August 2015, the Corbett family have made 25 separate trips to North Carolina in their determined pursuit of justice for Jason.
Defence lawyers had insisted that “Molly was all about the kids”. Yet as the eight victim impact statements began at 1pm last Wednesday, Martens turned her chair slightly so she faced away from the three members of the Corbett family who chose to speak in person about the pain, suffering and anguish she had caused them.
(...)
By the middle of the first week of the sentencing session, I wondered whether those who wandered into Courtroom 6 might wonder whether Tom and Molly Martens were the victims, rather than the convicted felons awaiting sentence.
As the hearing drew to a close last week, every Irish journalist present — in a brief straw poll conducted among ourselves — believed the father and daughter would walk free on the basis of time already served, after the relentless targeting of Mr Corbett’s reputation and trying to raise doubts over the death of his first wife.
(...)
Jack and Sarah delivered the two last victim impact statements, directly after an emotion-charged address by Tracey Corbett-Lynch, Jason’s sister, and the woman who spearheaded the campaign for justice for the Limerick widower over the past eight years.
There was no sobbing from Molly Martens as her former sister-in-law delivered her devastating statement.
(...)
Jack, now in his first year of university, then stepped forward. As he told how his stepmother had turned him into a liar and abused him in many ways, Molly Martens’ sobs echoed around the room.
(...)
Molly Martens’ sobs had by now given way to moans of anguish. Around the courtroom, journalists and members of the public alike shifted awkwardly in their seats as emotions in the room threatened to spiral.
Then I heard a loud sob directly behind me. As I cast a glance over my shoulder, I realised an American journalist had started to cry.
Martens wailed and other members of the Martens family began to sob. On the opposite side of the courtroom, members of the Corbett family wept openly as Jack struggled to maintain control.
(...)
Minutes later, Sarah Corbett stepped forward. By now, one member of the Martens family was sobbing so loudly the judge had warned he would not allow distractions in his courtroom and that anyone who could not maintain control was welcome to leave.
(...)
Molly Martens’ sobs and moans suddenly reached a new pitch. I looked up from my notebook and saw the former nanny was now leaning forward in her seat, with her face directly resting on the wooden table in front of her, both her hands held to her sides. She sobbed into the table with her shoulders shaking with emotion.
Undeterred, Sarah continued, pausing to stare directly at her stepmother.
(...)
Minutes later, Judge Hall acknowledged that, despite his best efforts and all his experience and skills, he simply did not know the truth about the terrible events that had happened in the master bedroom of Panther Creek Court.
He insisted that the victim impact statements by Jack and Sarah had not swayed him in his judgment, even as everyone else in the room — journalists, public and police officers alike — was reeling from the raw emotion of what they had just heard.
I have been covering court cases since the 1980s and I cannot remember anything comparable to what I heard last Wednesday.
Judge Hall sent Tom and Molly Martens back to jail for a minimum of seven months. They were immediately handcuffed and taken into custody. She sobbed, but he just took off his jacket and handed it to his family before they were both led away to jail.
(...)
It took just 90 seconds for the sound of the first sob to echo around the hushed confines of Courtroom 6 in Lexington, North Carolina.
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